Gas turbine engines may be employed to power various devices. For example, a gas turbine engine may be employed to power a mobile platform, such as an aircraft, rotorcraft, etc. In the example of the gas turbine engine powering a mobile platform, certain operating environments, such as desert operating environments, may cause the gas turbine engine to ingest fine sand and dust particles. These ingested fine sand and dust particles may pass through portions of the gas turbine engine and may accumulate in stagnation regions of cooling circuits within turbine components, such as turbine airfoils, associated with the gas turbine engine. The accumulation of the fine sand and dust particles in the stagnation regions of the cooling circuits in the turbine components, such as the turbine airfoil, may impede the cooling of the turbine airfoil, which in turn, may reduce the life of the turbine airfoil leading to increased repair costs and downtime for the gas turbine engine.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a turbine component, such as a turbine airfoil, having one or more shaped cooling pins, which enable the cooling of the turbine component, such as a turbine airfoil, while reducing a stagnation region within the cooling circuit. Stated another way, it is desirable to provide the turbine airfoil having the one or more shaped cooling pins, which reduce the accumulation of fine sand and dust particles, thereby maintaining the cooling of the turbine airfoil in operating environments having fine sand and dust particles. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.